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Oilersnation
Let’s Talk About Edmonton’s Third Line
- Both Foegele and Kassian produced three points each from games one through four, while Ryan also chipped in with a goal. As a line, the trio had a 67% goal share, and a 74% expected goal share.
- …since the first four games, the trio’s performance has rapidly declined.
- Foegele and Kassian have just one 5v5 point each since, while Ryan has none. Additionally, the line has been outscored 1-5, and scoring chances have been 14-21 in favor of the opposition. The duo of Ryan and Foegele in general have been outscored 3-9, as both of them rank last on Edmonton in goal differential.
- Is Derek Ryan a 3C: A third-line center isn’t expected to be consistently matched up against top lines every game, but I feel that a jump for an aging player from an exceedingly sheltered fourth-line center to a third-line center on a different team is larger than many think.
- Regarding his results for this season alone, Ryan’s play-driving metrics have been fairly average. Similar to the rest of the third line, his results have also gradually worsened in his most recent games.
- How Good Has Foegele Been?: One area of the game Foegele has historically struggled in is finishing. Relative to the chances he puts on the net, he’s always finished less than expected. This has persisted this year so far.
- no Oilers forward has been on-ice for scoring chances against at a higher rate than Foegele.
- I feel that he’s simply had a rough stretch of games, and perhaps a more defensively-sound linemate on the third line could benefit him.
- Who Should be the Other Winger on the 3rd Line?
- I feel that Kassian would be better suited for a fourth-line role.
- Sceviour could at least assist the third line from a defensive standpoint.
- Brendan Perlini hasn’t played particularly well following a very strong pre-season… he should remain on the fourth line…
- …keeping McLeod at 3C alongside Foegele and Benson/Sceviour would be the most preferable choice for the third line as of now, and hopefully, their 5v5 struggles don’t persist.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ll tell ya what, I did not mind the trio of Foegele, McLeod and Sceviour. Even Perlini, McLeod, and Sceviour was a nice line against Buffalo. Hell, just throwing any combination of those four skaters out seemed to work OK for Coach Tippett.
Derek Ryan has been on my mind for a good week now and I really hope that McLeod can keep up this current form because in my opinion, Ryan is better off on the 4th line right now. He needs a break from what Tippett has been handing him so far with regards to TOI and quality of competition. Although, with that said, when the Oilers face the Blues, St. Louis’ 4th line features some very big (slow) bodies in Klim Kostin, Dakota Joshua, and former Oilers James Neal.
Until it happens, I’ll keep saying it, Ken Holland should be on the lookout for an upgrade in his bottom-six before his team’s record goes from 10-3-0 to 10-8-0. Look at the Pacific Division standing, the bloody Anaheim Ducks are 2nd right now with 19 points and then tied with 18 points are Calgary, Vegas, and LA… The Oilers have 20 points…
Lowetide.ca
- The Oilers have lost two of three on the trip, and that’s not ideal. The final home game against the Rangers had some bad habits and the losing on the road followed.
- We haven’t seen the return of good habits, so the inconsistency is likely to continue.
- I have Edmonton with half of their expected points for the month already in the bank, so there’s a little room here for some wobble.
- I see the Chicago, Dallas and Arizona games as prime opportunities for victories in the coming two weeks.
- I don’t see St. Louis or Winnipeg on the road as being great chances for a struggling team, but a tighter defensive effort at five on five would be welcome.
- Philip Broberg had two more assists for the Condors last night, he has nine assists in 11 games so far this season. Broberg is fantastic in the AHL at this moment. No idea about recall.
BLH’s Thoughts: Doesn’t it make you curious why this team has started the year so inconsistently? This is not an inexperienced roster anymore and there are some very good veteran hockey players on the team to go with a handful of ELITE talents. We shouldn’t be talking about inconsistency at this point, so I want to know why we are.
Sounds like Broberg is having himself a really good time in Bakersfield right now, but it must be said and I have said it so many times in the past, early in a young player’s career when they’re on, they’re f*cking flying and when they’re off, they’re shit and that’s okay, it’s just part of the process and we need to wait for those peaks and valleys to flatten out a bit or else we risk throwing him to the lions and his eventual devourment.
So don’t get too excited about Broberg having himself a good stretch of games and demanding Holland bring him up. Our young Klefbom 2.0 has to show us that he can do this over the course of the season or at least 30-40 games… In the meantime, enjoy the show because this young man is electrifying!
Philip Broberg(#2) was on the ice for 90 seconds by this point when this clip starts.
His line for the night 2A, 3 Shots, +1 and a +5 shot share. pic.twitter.com/eUZtZxlxaR
— bcurlock (@bcurlock) November 13, 2021
The Daily Goal Horn
- For the Seattle Kraken, who are sitting dead last in the Pacific Division at 4-9-1 (9 pts) trading their captain and pending UFA Mark Giordano could be coming sooner rather than later.
- If the Kraken wait to trade Giordano at the NHL Trade Deadline they could increase their return with more teams being able to bid due to less cap issues. However, if another team struggling on defense is willing to pony up a decent return, why not pull the trigger and start working on the future now?
- The Anaheim Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks have two things in common right now. Both teams have no GM in place and both are willing to wait until the offseason to hire one.
- Rumblings are teams may want to see if Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas could be available if Toronto decides to make changes this summer.
